SC issues notices to ED, CBI on K Kavitha’s plea seeking bail in Delhi excise policy case; lists matter for Aug 20

He Supreme Court issued warnings to the Execution Direction and the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday in connection with BRS leader K KavithaThe bail plea from the now dismantled Delhi district Excise duty policy case. The Supreme Court was hearing Kavitha’s pleas challenging the earlier Delhi High Court verdict that denied him bail in the corruption and money laundering cases.

The Supreme Court also published the BRS leader’s bail applications for a hearing on August 20.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan heard the pleas of the 46-year-old politician, whose counsel, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, argued that Kavitha had already served five months in prison.

K Kavitha was arrested by the ED on March 15 and then by the CBI on April 11.

The daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been accused of being a key member of the ‘Southern Group’, which allegedly paid the ruling AAP in Delhi bribes of Rs 100 crore in return for a major share of liquor licences in the national capital.

Since her arrest from her home in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, Kavitha has been lodged in Tihar Jail.

Delhi High Court dismissal

On July 1, the Delhi High Court dismissed Kavitha’s bail applications in both cases, saying she was prima facie a key conspirator in the criminal conspiracy related to the formation and implementation of Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy.

While dismissing their bail applications, the top court said no case had been made out for grant of regular bail as of now as the investigation is at a crucial stage.

The court rejected her request for compensation on the grounds that she is a woman, saying that as a well-educated person and former MP, she cannot be equated with a vulnerable woman and that the court cannot lose sight of the “serious allegations” against her.